Monument record 2076 - BEN NA SCUTE, BARRA

NL69NW 60 6252 9821

The site of T169 stands very close to the edge of the sea, a few metres above high water mark, on a small shelf overlooking the western end of the Sound of Vatersay. Immediately behind (N) of the structure is a rock face about 5m high. Detailed survey preliminary to excavation in June 1992 revealed that this structure was oval, measuring 7.5m N to S, and 6m E to W. The stone setting which comprised the structure was made up of about 25 boulders, set upright for the most part, in a spaced oval. It did not appear to be the remains of a building so much as an enclosure of some sort. On the NW side an arc of six boulders suggested some sort of extension or annexe to the enclosure. Groups of further boulders at the SE and SW corners were suggestive of further elaborations or minor appendages but no clear form could be established for these. An examination of the interior revealed considerable rabbit disturbance across the S half of the enclosure, and some in the NE quadrant. Since the excavations were intended only as a sampling procedure, it was therefore decided to excavate the NW quadrant, where disturbance appeared to be least, perhaps non-existent.
A quadrant was therefore laid out measuring 5m along its N to S and E to W axes, and the turf removed. Below the turf a grey-brown coarse, sandy silt with angular stone inclusions covered the entire trench. It was a deposit of hillwash incorporating a handful of iron nail heads, a piece of clay pipe stem, and a quantity of flint flakes. The nail heads and pipe stem presumably relate to occasional use of the platform by 18th to 19th century fishermen. No modern material was found in the levels below this, but flint was found in the lower levels and that in the hill-wash is believed to have been incorporated from lower levels by the occasional modern activity on the site. Below this hillwash a charcoal-flecked medium-brown soil, about 0.1m deep, with granular sandy inclusions covered most of the excavated area. But along the S edge of the quadrant a band of orangey-brown hard material measuring 2.6m by 0.5m was found to overlie an alignment of stone slabs and bare rock. At the E end, where this band of material was best preserved, four alternate layers of dark blackish-brown and orangey-brown fibrous material was found. This material appears to be the remains of a burnt and demolished turf stack. The alignment of flat stones on which was founded continued W for a further 1.5m until they met one of the upright boulders of the outer arc, but no trace of the burnt turf material was found on these slabs. Just N of them, a further falt slab had a thick deposit of burnt ash and charcoal on it; it was apparently the location of a small fireplace. E of this fireplace and N of the base of the burnt and demolished turf stack were recovered 36 pieces of flint and two hammer stones. When these deposits were removed a blackish charcoal-flecked soil was found N of the burnt turf stack and within the inner ring of stones forming the enclosure. This deposit ran up to the stone slabs on which the turf stack had stood, and accumulated around and over a slightly curved alignment of four stones which ran N from the stone slabs found to the W of the turf stack, and up to one of the stones forming the outer arc. The boulders which made up this arc were found to be linked by a rough alignment of smaller stones which ran between them. In the area enclosed by the turf stack, the arc of four stone slabs, and the outer arc of stones, 119 pieces of flint including flakes and cores were recovered, as well as a smoothed stone rather like a pestle, and a flat stone rubbed concavely presenting the appearance of a 'palette'. The greatest concentration of debitage was in the N corner of the excavated area. The interpretation of the sequence is as follows.

Phase 1
The oval area was marked out, or enclosed, by the ring of boulders, with an annexe included at the NW corner, marked by an outer arc of stones. This may have formed some sort of entrance to the enclosure proper with a group of flat slabs between a pair of inner and outer boulders acting as a threshold, and four slabs inside as a paved way. To the E of this suggested entrance was a turf-built windbreak. Behind this windbreak activity was carried on which included the working of pebble flint, and other activities which included the use of some of the regular flakes and retouched flint. the location of the site so close to the sea invites speculation as to a possible link with the exploitation of marine resources, but there is no evidene for that. Subsequently the turf stack caught fire and was burnt down and its remains demolished and spread downslope.

Phase 2
A new, L-shaped windbreak was constructed, a small fireplace made on one of the old paving stones, and activity continued as before though possibly less intensively or for a shorter period of time. The absence of cores, a reduced proportion of debitage and the overall reduction in the quantity of lithic material in phase 2 suggests that tool production may not have been renewed after the first phase and this too may have point to a very brief reuse of the site. The absence of pottery, of animal bone (some of which might have been expected to survive on this site), and of any notable quantities of heavy working tools, as well as the somewhat ephemeral nature of the enclosure and its furnishings suggest that this was never a house or occupation site but rather an activity site of some sort. A radiocarbon determination was made of a sample taken from the lowest level producing lithic material in square E5. The calibrated date provided by this sample is (at 1 o~ level of confidence) GU-3392 BP 2742-2471 (793-522 BC).
K Branigan 1992; K Branigan and P Foster 1995; NMRS MS 595/6, MS 595/8, 595/9.

An interesting and unusual site, as described above. Its is located at the piont where the Sound of Vatersay narrows, this is noted as where the the rough seas of the open ocean change to the relitive calm of the sound. The site condition is stable, no sign of rabbit activity and only slight erosion along the coastal edge.
K.Murphy (Arch Service CnES) 20/02/2023

K. Brannigan & P. Foster, 1995, Barra: archaeological research on Ben Tangaval from the end of the Ice Age to the Crofting Commissio, 13, 43, 170-6, 200, 203 plate 5.3, figs. 5.7-5.9 (Bibliographic reference). SWE33223.